經典英語美文中英對照
學習英語可以是一個枯燥的過程，也可以是一個有趣的過程。小編在此獻上經典英語美文，希望對大家喜歡。
英語美文欣賞：認真看待自己，纔會得到他人的尊重
I stand on the edge of the dance floor watching couples glide, spin, and groove as they dance the West Coast Swing. The tempo of the music is fast, but the beating of my heart is faster. I want to dance, but I'm afraid I'm not good enough.
我站在舞池邊，看着人們一對一對地在跳西海岸搖擺舞，他們滑動舞步、旋轉着、享受着。音樂節奏很快，但我的心跳更快。我想跳舞，又擔心跳得不好。
The song ends, and as another begins, a white-haired gentleman with a rakish smile offers me his hand and pulls me onto the floor, waving away my protests that I'm only a beginner.
一首樂曲結束，另一首開始了，一位淺色頭髮的紳士面帶微笑向我伸出手，把我拉進舞池，我作爲初學者的恐懼一掃而光了。
Okay. If he can do this, so can I.
好吧，如果他能跳，那我也能跳。
I manage to find a respectable groove, but whenever he tries to lead me in anything other than the basic steps, I stumble. All I can do is smile a lot and apologize even more.
我終於覺着自己跳得不錯了，但他帶着我跳基本舞步之外的動作時，我就會絆到。我所能做的就是多微笑，但更多的還是道歉。
After I've mumbled sorry for the tenth time, he laughs and says, "It's okay. You're blonde."
我第十次喃喃地道歉之後，他笑着說：“沒關係，你的金髮很漂亮。”
Huh? It's delivered like a compliment, and I decide to take it as one; if I can't be graceful, I can at least be gracious. But later, after the shoes have come off and I'm in my own quiet room, his words keep dancing through my head. They start wearing a different kind of groove, leading to questions like:
嗯?聽起來像恭維我，我決定就當成是恭維吧。如果我不能跳得很優雅，至少可以彬彬有禮。但後來我脫掉鞋安靜地坐在自己屋裏時，他的話一直縈繞在我的腦海。我開始覺着那些話有些言外之意，使我想到了幾個問題：
Do I act blonde? If you believe the stereotype, blondes are assumed to be helpless, shallow, unambitious or naive. Now I know these traits have nothing to do with hair color. Still, something in this idea strikes a nerve.
我表現得像金髮美女嗎?如果你相信老一套的說法，就知道金髮美女被認爲無助、膚淺、要求不高或者幼稚，現在我知道了這些特點都和頭髮顏色沒關係。但總會有些東西說到你心裏。
Why do I apologize so much? In what ways do I minimize myself and my efforts?
爲什麼我要說那麼多道歉的話?我是怎麼把自己和自己的努力說得什麼都不是的?
How seriously do I take myself?
我有很認真地看待自己嗎?
In an effort to answer these questions, I promptly dye my hair brown and begin collecting data. I discover that I feel plainer, duller, and more average with darker hair. I also feel more thoughtful, more discerning, more earnest. In the words of Oscar Wilde, "Life is too important to be taken seriously."
爲了找到答案，我立刻把頭髮染成棕色，開始蒐集答案。我發現深色頭髮使我感覺自己更平凡、沉悶、普通。我也感覺自己更睿智、更有眼光、也更真誠了。正如奧斯卡·王爾德所說：“生活太重要，不容你不認真對待。”
I suspect that what I want is not to be taken seriously, but to feel important. I forget about my hair color and focus instead on the ways I matter. And I define which things matter most to me.
我想我真正想要的不是讓別人拿我當回事，而是要自己感覺自己重要。我不去想頭髮的顏色，而是關注自己的重要性。我認定了什麼對我來說纔是最重要的。
As a result of my burgeoning self-importance, I am better able to recognize those around me who sincerely support me.
由於感覺自己很重要的信念迅速增長，我能更好地判斷出身邊誰是真心支持我的。
Based on my (admittedly unscientific) findings, here’s how you too can identify the people in your life who believe you are important:
根據我的發現(當然不具有科學性)，通過以下幾點你也能確定生活中誰覺得你很重要：
They listen when you talk.
你說話時他們會傾聽。
They don't laugh when you tell them a wild idea.
你說出一個瘋狂的想法時他們不會嘲笑你。
They seek you out for advice.
他們向你徵求意見。
When they introduce you to someone, they make a point of saying what you do or mentioning your passion.
他們把你介紹給別人時會強調你是做什麼的或提到你的熱情所在。
They understand that we're all learning, so they patiently encourage you to begin again, and again, and again.
他們明白我們都在學習階段，所以會耐心地鼓勵你一遍一遍地重新開始。
They don't mind when you occasionally step on their toes.
你偶爾踩到他們腳時他們不會介意。
They love you no matter what you look like.
無論你什麼樣他們都喜歡你。
Back on the dance floor, the same man grabs me again. Three months have passed and I have advanced. I finally know the steps and can hold my own.
再去跳舞時，還是那個男人邀請我。三個月過去了，我已經有所提高了。我終於知道怎麼跳了，也能控制自己的步伐了。
"Okay, now you've got to work it," he says. "Give me some attitude."
他說：“很好，現在你可得努力了。讓我看到你的態度。”
I smile, not missing a beat. He's right. This is seriously fun.
我笑了笑，沒有跳錯一個拍子。他說得對，跳舞真的很有趣。
英語美文：態度決定生活
An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer (contractor) of his plans to leave the house building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family. He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by.
一位老木匠打算退休了。他向自己所在的建築公司僱主請辭，表示想要和自己的老伴以及大家庭去過一種更加閒適的生活。他會想念領薪水的日子，但他還是該退休了，他想日子總是能過下去的。
The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and usedinferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career.
老闆很捨不得自己的好員工離開，他對木匠說請你再建最後一座房子吧，就算是幫我個忙。木匠答應了，但很快就明顯可以看出他的心已經不在工作上了。他用拙劣的技巧和劣質的材料建這座房子，用這種狀態來結束他的職業生涯其實是一種遺憾。
When the carpenter finished his work and the builder came to inspect the house, the contractor handed the front-door key to the carpenter. "This is your house," he said, "my gift to you."
木匠完成了他的工作，負責人來驗收房屋，老闆將這座房屋的前門鑰匙遞到了木匠手上，說：“這房子現在歸你了，作爲我給你的禮物。”
What a shock! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. Now he had to live in the home he had built none too well.
木匠頓時感到很震驚。多可惜啊!如果他知道是在爲自己修建這所房子的話，他會完全以另一種態度來對待。而現在他不得不住在這座自己胡亂修建的房子裏了。
So it is with us. We build our lives in a distracted way, reacting rather than acting, willing to put up less than the best. At important points we do not give the job our best effort. Then with a shock we look at the situation we have created and find that we are now living in the house we have built. If we had realized, we would have done it differently.
想象一下你就是這個木匠，想象你正在建造這座房子，你每天釘進一顆釘子、安裝一塊板子或者築起一面牆。請用心對待吧，這是唯一一個你爲自己打造的生活。即使你只在裏面住上一天，這一天也要活得有光彩、有尊嚴。正如格言所說，“生活是一個只有靠自己才能完成的項目。”
Think of yourself as the carpenter. Think about your house. Each day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Build wisely. It is the only life you will ever build. Even if you live it for only one day more, that day deserves to be lived graciously and withdignity. The plaque on the wall says, "Life is a do-it-yourself project."
誰還能說的再清楚些呢?你今天的生活就是你自己過去的態度和選擇的結果，你未來的生活就是你現在的態度和選擇的結果。
Who could say it more clearly? Your life today is the result of your attitudes and choices in the past. Your life tomorrow will be the result of your attitudes and the choices you make today.
雙語美文：公開信 致憂傷的你
Dear Anyone Having a Bad Week,
親愛的度過糟糕一週的你：
I'm sorry. I have no idea why your week is bad, or how bad it actually is. I don't know if you've told anyone, if there's anything that could fix it or if it's made you rather unpleasant to be around. But I do know that I'm sorry that you're hurting, or stressed, or exhausted, or grieving, or frustrated, or depressed, or lonely, or scared or lost.
我很抱歉，我無從知曉你的這一週爲何很糟糕，也不知道實際情況到底有多糟。不知道你是否有找人傾訴，是否有什麼方式可以讓你好受一些或者說現實是否讓你更加難過。但是我清楚地知道我爲你一切不好的情緒感到深深的同情，無論是你受到傷害或者感到壓力，亦或是感到疲憊、悲傷、筋疲力盡、沮喪、孤獨、害怕還是迷失。
I thought about writing this letter in a couple of different ways. I thought about writing it about the things you could do to feel better: show yourself compassion, go outside and look at the trees, look at a baby photo of yourself. Or I thought about focusing the letter on how the "bad weeks" can actually be pretty beautiful, if you look at them the right way. I almost wrote those letters, and maybe at some point I will, but I think I ended up deciding that I wasn't writing to make anyone feel better -- I just want you to feel heard.
我想象過用各種不同的方式來寫這封信。我想象寫一些可以讓你感到好些的事情：比如對自己表示同情、出去看看樹木或者看看自己兒時的照片;或者我也想象過將信的着重點放在，如果你用正確的方式來看待“糟糕的一週”，你或許會發現這一週實際很美好。我差一點就那樣寫了，也許將來會這樣寫。但是現在我最終決定不寫這些。——我只是想讓你們感到，有人聽到了你們的心聲。
There's something about humans that makes us crave for our pain to be recognized. There is something inherently good and comforting in having someone say, "Yeah, that sounds really hard," or, "It really sucks that you have to deal with all that."
作爲人類本身，我們都渴望自己的悲傷被瞭解。如果有人能在這個時候對你說“是的，那聽起來的確很糟”或者“你需要面對這些真的是太不幸了”，我們的內心都會感到些許好轉或安慰。
But unfortunately, that's not always the direction that society pushes us in. We have been taught that bad days are to be silently borne beneath a bright smile; that expressions of pain are uncomfortable.
但不幸的是，現實並不總能按照我們期望的方向發展。我們總是被告知需要隱藏自己的悲傷，展露自己的微笑。而這種表達方式讓人並不舒服。
I want you to know you can feel free to spill your bad day all over the place and wear it on the front of your shirt.
我想要讓你知道，你可以在任何地方自由表露你的壞情緒，你甚至可以將它畫在T恤上穿在你的身上。
I want you to know that the expressions of your pain are beautiful and that I will try my very hardest to feel the hurt with you. I want you to know that your grumpy, stressed out, short-tempered self is just as awesome as your cheerful self. Please do not shun your suffering.
我想要讓你知道你表現出來的悲傷也很美麗，我會盡我最大的努力來儘量感受你的不幸。我想要讓你知道，有壞情緒、壓力感和小脾氣的你與快樂時的你一樣可愛。請不要再壓抑自己的情感。
In writing this, know that I hear you, and let yourself be healed. I hope your day turns around, and that even if it doesn't, you can still find a few moments of beauty and/or happiness amidst the crappiness. For all of you not having bad days -- carry on, and enjoy.
在寫這篇文章時，我聽到了你們的心聲，請讓自己儘快好起來。我希望你們日子恢復正常，即使不能，你仍然可以發現一些美好的瞬間或者苦中作樂一下。爲了不讓你們自己持續這種糟糕的日子，向前看，去享受生活吧!
Sincerely,
此致
Clara Wagner
克拉拉·瓦格納
